Time (04/20/2024)

Time seems to be scarcer now a days. I can’t tell you how many times this week alone I’ve been told by another that there simply isn’t enough time. I can’t tell you how many times this week alone I’ve thought the same thing. And then I saw my grandson Vincent’s time piece he made as a beginning welder his senior year in high school. He used what he had and welded it together to make a clock. It hangs on his mom’s screened porch. And I thought to myself, “Now there’s an idea; make the most of what you have.”

Time is a gift, a most precious gift. We all have the same number of hours in a day, and yet I am always amazed at what others seem to produce in the same number of minutes I’ve been afforded. I conclude that it isn’t the amount we’re given so much as our motivation to use it well that matters.

I think of a woman who grows a garden, a massive garden. Every time I drive by, she’s out there working, or I can see evidence of her work. And every time I think to myself, “I wish I were that disciplined.”

Time, like any gift from the LORD, needs to be used with gratitude and for good. Usually that means doing something for another, but not always. At times it means taking what we have and using it for our own good in prayer, in thought, writing a note to another, journaling about our journey, in rest.

I look at what others are doing; I look at my own habits. I see too many devices; I see too many ways to waste time. I’m known to sit at my computer to write and an hour later I’m still playing “a quick game of solitaire.” Or I’ll sit to take a rest, turn on the tv, and realize an hour later that I’ve flipped the channel multiple times and long exceeded what was needed of “down time.”

This morning, I’m thinking I really need to get a handle on my use of time again. Retired as I am, I think I decided somewhere along the line that I have “more time.” But that is an erroneous assumption on my part. I still have the same number of hours everyone else has been given in a day. What’s different isn’t the amount, but the control. I’m in charge of how I use my time now. Sadly, I’m very pleased that there isn’t a national government agency that audits my use of time as it does my use of money.

How will I use my time? My decision this morning after prayerfully considering this situation is that I hope to use it more constructively and to do more the LORD is calling me to do, to find more ways to express loving kindness through my minutes and hours. My decision, also, is to limit the amount of time I spend thoughtlessly on a device. I’m going to try to view my devices as necessary for certain functions but not as “rest stops” for large chunks of time in my day.

I thanked the LORD this morning for using my grandson’s clock to get my attention and my prayerful discernment. Life isn’t random. I’m still learning to “pay attention.” It’s a blessing to me that the LORD isn’t done leading me yet.

As we continue our journeys in faith, hope and love, let us remain open to the Spirit and where that openness will lead us. Let us be willing to hear the urgings of the Spirit to use our gifts well and lovingly, especially our time. Let us turn anew with excitement to our LORD as the sunflower turns to the sun. Let us make the most of what has been given to us for the glory and love of the LORD and in loving service to our sisters and brothers.

Until tomorrow, let us all love well.